updated 040923
| StarDate 040915
I'm finally getting around to writing up my appearances and experiences
for the Spring/Summer 2004.
In May, I was honored to be a guest once more at FedCon in Bonn Germany. As always, we were
treated royally and had a great time. I especially enjoyed meeting
Anthony Montgomery who co-stars on Enterprise.
Paramount Home Entertainment (Germany) GmbH was in the process of releasing the
Star Trek DVDs and asked me to be their guest celebrity on an evening's
boat trip on the Rhine. We were hosted by Lutz Anderie, Marketing Director and enjoyed a wonderful
evening.
The Hotel where FedCon was held had a great theater which held about 2000 and a
tremendous stage on which I sang and performed, graciously receiving a rousing standing ovation from
the wonderful audience. I am not doing it justice with this short note, but it was truly a great
trip.
Here are a few pictures. |
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Anthony Montgomery and yours truly |
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I'm singing again |
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Dinner with Lutz Anderie on the
Rhine.
Note the Castle out the the window over my shoulder. |
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I'm autographing the custom cases for the
DVDs |
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Richard Arnold and me on
deck |
| StarDate 040615
In June, I was honored to be selected as one of the International Human
Rights Consortium's FETE d'EXCELLENCE Laureates for 2004. They are based in Geneva,
Switzerland but held this year's ceremony in Los Angeles, hosted by their President/Founder,
Wilda Spalding. My commendation read:
"You have been selected for the Medaille d'Excellence 2004 in the
category of "Edutainment." This is in recognition of your being a true
innovator, a woman of courage and commitment to the deepest values of excellence
through your artistry within the world of entertainment and also as an innovative
educator and patron to learning... inspiring the budding minds and hearts of youth."
This year's ceremony was dedicated to a previous Laureate, Dr. Ralph Bunch, former United Nations
Under-Secretary
General, and the first person of color to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Rafer Johnson, a
former Olympic decathalon champion, and currently a driving force in
Special Olympics as
well as other children's charitable organizations, was also a 2004
Laureate. I was truly overcome by this prestigious award which places my name among such an
honorable
company.
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Rafer Johnson and me
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I congratulate some of the
wonderful international entertainers
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| StarDate 040618
Paul Allen and his company, Vulcan, opened a magnificent Sci-Fi Museum
next to the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. I had previously recorded some of the Museum's
descriptions of various displays and was invited to the Grand Opening. This was a tremendous
event and the Sci-Fi Museum is magnificent. The displays will take your breath away and, of course,
Star Trek is one of the main displays. I am very proud to be a key part of the ST display, where most of
my original TV scripts, notes and all, are on display, along with one of my (actually, Uhura's) original
dresses. I strongly suggest that whenever you visit Seattle, be sure and go to the Museum. As a matter
of fact, you should go to Seattle just to see it!!! Below are a few pictures of the event. |
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Me and "The
Dress"
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With George Takei in front of ST exhibit
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Rod Roddenberry and me with a
very appropriate background
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Paul Allen and me
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with Jeff Bezos, Amazon.Com
founder
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With Rod & Paul
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Two Generations of ST History
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I autographed the Enterprise!!
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Finally!! I'm in the Captain's Chair!!
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StarDate 040822
On August 19-21, I was invited by Conrad Bachmann of the Academy
of TV Arts and Sciences to join a group of other celebrities and
to be a guest performer at the annual Ned Beatty Easter Seals Lily
Ball in Lousiville, KY. I'm so glad I accepted since this
was an experience I shall remember for a long time. Singing
with the "The Monarchs" band at the Lily Ball was just
great. A highlight of the trip was visiting the Children's
Care Center which was tremendously uplifting and made all of us
proud to help raise a lot of money to support these courageous and
loving human beings.
The night before the ball, we were guests at the home of Keith and
Teri Cullinan and spent a glorious evening dining and singing and
talking and having a wonderful time. Along with their son,
Brian, and his wife, Sandy, the Cullinans were magnificent hosts
and treated us royally throughout our stay, and I thank them very
much.
Another great highlight of the trip was our VIP visit to the
palacial Gainsborough Horse Farm and especially the 3 Chimney Farm
which is now the proud home of Smarty Jones, the 2004 Kentucky
Derby and Preakness (and almost triple crown) winner. Smarty
allowed me to pose with him and then proceeded to bite my big blue
straw hat. We also got to visit the Louisville Slugger
factory and I am now the proud owner of my very own Louisville
Slugger with my name burned into it.
The trip was great and I look forward to returning to one of the
most beautiful cities in the world. Below are some pictures
from the trip with some of the other celebs whom I so enjoyed
being with that week. |
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Conrad, Penny Johnson &
me at the Cullinans |
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Viewing the beautiful Cullinan
Estate |
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Brian and me at the party |
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Two Divas at the waterfall |
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Keith serenading Benito
Martinez ("The Shield") and me |
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My 'hat-loving'
buddy, Smarty Jones |
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Gralin Jerald & Penny
with Smarty |
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One of the children at the Care Center |
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StarDate 040829
On the last days of August, 2004, Sky Douglas Conway, his lovely wife,
Tracy, and their Planet XPO organization
produced a spectacular event at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood honoring
Jimmy Doohan, our beloved "Scotty."
In my opinion, joining with so many who expressed the same, this was one of the
greatest Star Trek celebrations I have
ever attended. The weekend celebration was capped on Tuesday with the
unveiling of Jimmy's Star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame.
At the opening ceremony on Friday night, and at the Grand Finale on
Sunday, I had the great honor of introducing my
friend and fellow awardee of Die Goldene Kamera Award which we both received in
Germany, Astronaut extra- ordinaire, Dr. Neil Armstrong. This was a
tremendous acknowledgement to Jimmy since it is well known Neil attends very,
very few public events of this nature.
The overflow crowd nearly went berserk when I introduced Neil, and upon
our exit, they circled us by the hundredsd. It
was simply marvelous!! He was so gracious with the fans, and to their
astonishment, took pictures with many of them.
The event was given the highest media blessing one could hope for when the
prestigious New York Times headlined
their ARTS Section on Tuesday, Aug 31, 2004 with a tremendous color picture of
those of the Original Cast who
attended the Grand Finale, joined by Dr. Neil Armstrong, and with a two page
four column article. This was a happening and I was so thrilled to be a
part of honoring Jimmy who so richly deserved it. I feel sorry for those
who missed this spectacular celebration.
Below are a few pictures from the weekend.
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Walter & me with Jimmy
and his daughters
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Neil Armstrong & cast
salute Jimmy
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Majel Barrett Roddenberry
& me with Neil
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Jim & me with
Neil
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Star Ceremony honoring
Jimmy Doohan
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Star Ceremony
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New York Times captures
Cast and Neil Armstrong
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I just returned from one of my favorite cities, Vancouver BC, Canada, where I
was filming a charming new comedy from Revolution Studios entitled... "Are
We There Yet?" It stars Ice Cube and Nia Long and introduces two of the
most talented child actors in the business today. Aleisha Allen and Philip
Bolden play single mom Nia Long’s adorable, ingenious little monsters... oops,
I mean children... who tax Ice Cube’s sanity on a cross-country auto trip to
unite them with their mother - who they intend to reunite with their less than
caring estranged father.
"Yours Truly" plays the little darlings’ baby sitter, "Ms.
Mabel," who is still living in the hey-days of her youth when she was
obviously a self-proclaimed "Fox" of the 60s--70s era. However, it is
Ms. Mabel who can rein in her little wards - if only momentarily. I really
enjoyed creating this character and working with Ice Cube, who might have been
expecting a sophisticated version of Uhura to beam in. Instead, this hot mama
woman of a "certain age" crash landed as a character that I think
warmed even the coolest of cool Cube himself. Still, he was too cool and we
developed a symbiotic working relationship which evinced a stunning, creative
result we each felt as worthy of our mutual talents. TRANSLATION: From day one,
we had a ball finding the limits to which we could test the craziness of the
other’s character until we cracked each other up and all the crew as well. I
found him charming, professional and living up to the promise we all saw in his
acting debut in "Boys in the Hood," which incidentally first showcased
the brilliance of Larry Fishburn and my co-star from "Snow Dogs," Cuba
Gooding, Jr. WoW!!
I’ve always admired the work of Nia Long, who is as beautiful in person as
she is on screen... and twice the Lady. The very fine actor, Henry Simmons of
NYPD fame, was a delight and turned in an incredibly funny performance as one of
Nia’s ill-fated suitors. Jay Mohr was a crack up. I wish I’d gotten to work
with all of them.
The best part - if one could be better than another - was being chosen by
prolific film-maker, Brian Levant*, who had faith in my ability for this role as
he had in casting me in "Snow Dogs" and prior to that in "Captain
Zoom in Outer Space." Working with him is always an exciting opportunity
and challenge to create a fabulous personality. And he seems to out do himself,
if that were possible, on each succeeding film. What Joy!
In addition, working once again with a great Canadian crew. It was wonderful
to work again with cinematographer Tom Ackerman, Script Director Jules Manse
Stewart, and Make-up Artist Stan Edmond, all of whom I worked with in "Snow
Dogs," and Emmy Award winner, Julie McHaffie, who I’d worked with on
"Captain Zoom." They are all so talented and professional... I love
them.
The Producers, Matt Alvarez, Dan Kolsrud and Ice Cube, could not have been
nicer or more accommodating. They seemed genuinely pleased with my work and it
was a pleasure working for them in what I believe will be another winner for
Revolution Studios.
*Partial credits as either Director, Writer or Producer:
The Flintstones, Leave It To Beaver, Married with Children,
Mork & Mindy, Bad News Bears, Happy Days
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